


Dearest Friend

by minniethecatt



Series: Minerva Potter 'verse [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Hogwarts House Sorting, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship, Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:14:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25551133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minniethecatt/pseuds/minniethecatt
Summary: Minnie is going to Hogwarts with her brother, James Sirius.She's waiting to be sorted. She's scared about where she'll end up.But maybe she will make friends along the way who will make it less scary.It's a little sneak peak on Minnie's new friend at Hogwarts: Xerxes. This is how they met on the train to Hogwarts.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Minerva Potter 'verse [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734163
Kudos: 12





	Dearest Friend

The first time she got to the platform she was amazed by what she saw. There were thousand of people, parents kissing their children goodbye and friends greeting each other after three months of summer. It was her first year and she couldn't be more excited. She followed her grandparents taking her little sister's hand and joined the Weasleys near the train. Hugo walked next to Lily so Minnie went to Rose who was talking with J Sirius and Al.  
"There she is!" exclaimed Rose, "How you feel?"  
She smiled but the truth was that she was scared as hell.  
"Okay kids, it's time to go now" said uncle Ron before kissing his daughter. Minnie and J Sirius hugged Sirius and Remus and their siblings, then JS literally jumped on tha train. Minnie was standing in front of the door too scared to walk in. Suddenly she felt a pair of arms hugging her from behind, she turned around and saw Sirius smiling at her.  
"Everything will be alright honey, now join your brother or you'll miss the train".  
She smiled at her, then walked in saying hello with her hand. 

  
Inside JS was waiting for her, she run to him and together they started looking for an empty compartment.  
"They're all filled Min, Rose went with her friends so we have to find a new one"  
They walked down the corridor, looking in every compartment but only the last of the car was almost empty, there was only a little boy with a black cat almost as big as him coiled up on his lap.  
"Found it" exclaimed JS with a smile. He entered and Minnie joined him in a second. They sat in front of the boy who wasn't paying attention to them. Only when JS reached out he raised his head and looked at the hand in front of him.  
"Hi I'm James Sirius, but you can call me just Sirius. You're new? I don't remember seeing you last year. My sister here is new too, her name's Minerva like the headmistress. What's your name?"  
The boy looked him in the eyes but didn't take his hand.  
"I'm Xerxes".  
"What a strange name, it's cool though. Ehi Min, you want some candy?"  
She nodded then he got out looking for the old lady with the trolley.  
"Sorry, he likes to talk"  
The boy smiled at her and went back to caress the cat.  
"What's its name?"  
"Damaris, she's a girl"  
Minnie got up from her seat and sat next to him. Xerxes looked at her curiously with an amused expression.  
"Can I pet her?"  
"Sure"  
As Minnie stroked her head the cat began to purr and she smiled at the boy.  
"She likes you"   
"Doesn't a black cat bring bad luck?" she asked suddenly.  
"It's quite the opposite actually. In ancient times it was considered as a bearer of love, luck and happiness. Pirates are just an example, in fact they believed that keeping a black cat on board would bring them rich treasures and lucky adventures".  
Minerva was listening to him in awe, totally fascinated by his words and his way to tell a story.  
"How do you know such things?"  
"My mother's a muggle and she's a history teacher and sometimes she tells me one of this stories that almost no one knows. She says that it's important to learn both magic and muggle history. She thinks history is the most important thing because she says it helps to remember and to do better. And I think she's right".  
"Wow you're so cool, can we be friends?"  
The boy laughed and the cat jumped off his lap.  
"Yeah sure".

  
They chatted until J Sirius got back in the compartment with his hands full of candy.  
"You already found a boyfriend eh Min" he said with a grin when he saw the two kids sitting next to each others. Xerxes' face became a dark shape of red while Minnie stuck out his tongue to her brother.  
"Don't mind him, he likes to embarass other people, he's an idiot".  
The rest of the journey was quiet, they talked and eat something before they got to the castle.  
When they got off the train Minnie said goodbye to her brother and followed Xerxes in the other direction. When they walked in through the main door they found Minerva McGonagall waiting for them. After the usual speech on the four houses the door of the great hall opened, revealing four long tables decorated with the colors of the houses. Minnie looked around astonished by all that splendor, then she looked up and saw the ceiling studdes with stars. Suddenly she remembered her aunt's words, "And remember Min, the ceiling can seem real but it's all a well done spell".  
Minerva Mcgonagall accompanied them in front of the teachers' table where a stool had been placed with an old hat on it.   
"Where do you wanna be sorted into?" she asked her new friend.  
"I don't know, I think Ravenclaw or Slytherin will do"  
"I want to be a Gryffindor"  
He shrugged and right after the headmistress called his name. He looked at Minnie and smiled. "What if we don't get sorted into the same house?"  
"Then I'll let you sneak into my common room"

  
The boy laughed and then went to sit on the stool. After a moment of silence the hat yelled "SLYTHERIN". Xerxes smiled and joined the Slytherin table under the applause of the crowd.  
When it was Minnie's turn she swore she saw the headmistress cry after the hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR". She went to sit at the Gryffindor table and looked for Xerxes across the room. She saw him talking with some other boys, she waved her arms and said hello with her hand. When he saw her he smiled and mouthed "see you later"  
After the banquet was over she saw Remus coming closer with a smile on his lips.  
"Congratulation Minnie, you're a Gryffindor. Pads and I are so proud of you and he asked me to give you a kiss"  
He kissed her on her forehead while she closed her eyes.  
"Thank you grandmoomy I love you, but now I gotta go. Tell Pads I said hi".  
She walked away, following a voice that said "Gryffindor, first year this way". When she got to the Gryffindor common room she immediately saw J Sirius sitting in an armchair.  
"My little sister!" he exclaimed, "You did it, you're a Gryffindor now"   
"Shut up you're embarassing me, you idiot"  
The boy laughed and hugged her before he fell again on the armchair.

  
"I need to ask you something" she said almost whispering.  
"What is it?"  
"Can I use the map?"  
"You're first day here and you already break the rules, I raised you well. But what do you need it for?"  
"I want to see Xerxes"  
"Ah you two lovebirds"  
"Stop it, can you give it to me or not?"  
J Sirius rolled his eyes with an amused expression.  
"It's in my truck, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do"  
She rolled her eyes and took the map. She looked carefully and found her friend walking in the corridor in front of the Slytherin common room. She took the invisibility cloak, another gift from her father, and went outside. She walked down the corridors under the cloak with the map on his hand, Xerxes was still there. When she got there he was walking back and forth in front of the entrance.  
"Xerxes" she called him. He turned around but no one was there. "Xerxes it's me, Minerva, I'm under the invisibility cloak". She uncovered her head that seemed to float around and smiled at him.  
"What are you doing here and how did you menage to come here without being caught?"  
"I have this map, besides the cloak, that tells you where everyone is inside Hogwarts, my grandads made it when they were here. It's called the Marauders Map. But what are you doing here?"  
"Oh I'm waiting for my prefect, I asked him if he could show me the classes so tomorrow I won't get lost"  
"I bet he wasn't very happy about this, was he?" she asked, making the boy laugh.  
"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about the map so when you want to see me you just have to let me know where and when"  
"You're amazing you know? But I think you should go now, someone's coming"  
She covered herself again with the cloak and after saying goodbye to him, she walked in the direction from which she had come. When she entered in her common room she found her brother waiting for her.  
"Everything alright? You talked to your boyfriend?"  
"He's not my boyfriend and yes everything was just perfect, but I'll need you map more often now"  
"Out of question, dad gave it to me"  
"Yeah okay, good night Sir" she said while she walked up the stairs leading to the girls dormitory. As a first day it had gone very well.

**Author's Note:**

> The Minerva Potter Universe is the world in which if Harry and Ginny had had another daughter she would be called Minerva for sure! Moreover, in this universe Sirius and Remus live, they're now both 60 years old (in 2020) and love taking care of their grandchildren. All the other things from canon are still the same.  
> You can follow @minniethecatt on Twitter to get first access to the content and other gems!  
> [We own no character written by J.K. Rowling]


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